GRACIOUS !

This less-known debut can surprise you very positively when you hear it for the first time. The opening track shows how Gracious can rock and do that with style. It's like a cross between psychedelic Beatles and early Uriah Heep. The real gem is the second, 'Heaven', which builds a wonderful arch in only 8 minutes, from a theme-fitting devoutness to genuine time-changes. Lyrics are cleverly ironic (I think), about being saved "if you have a clean mind". The vocals are superb, not very far from the likes of Zeppelin and Heep but with gorgeous harmony vocals that makes one think of Moody Blues. The other highlight is the longest track 'The Dream' which has same kind of amazement as 'Heaven', now with more jazzy instrumental passages. They also momentarily cite Hey Jude.

Instrumental, harpsichord-starring 'Fugue in D minor': now I can't remember if it's basically some old composition (Bach or something) but it's not at all out of place with the whole. Through the album one can hear ingredients of many musical genres: classical, jazz, entertainment, etc, but it all works perfectly together and shows a very promising talent. Sadly the second Gracious is less interesting and after it they disbanded and practically disappeared from music business (til '96 Echo, anyway - someone should write about it!). This album is very nearly a masterpiece, but not quite: compositional ingenuity shines in two tracks while the rest is more like showing the band's versatility in various styles. But that's sure enough to be "excellent addition to any prog music collection".